


Hero Without Time

by SerStolas



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age/Mass Effect crossover, F/M, Shepard's been through a lot, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-04 13:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12772461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: Commander Shepard chose to destroy the Reapers, and expected that to be the end of things, and the end of her.Then she woke up in a Thedas with the memory of a life she doesn't believe she's actually lived and a glowing mark on her left hand.  Now she isn't sure where dreams end and reality begins, but she must figure it out quickly, since the fate of Thedas appears to depend on the mark on her hand.(An AU where Shepard died destroying the Reapers and was reborn as Trevelyan in Thedas, going on the theory that Mass Effect and Dragon Age take place in the same universe.  I'm not going to get all the details of DAI in or the dialog exactly the same, but the premise seemed like a fun idea at the time)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when your brain says "Write the thing" and you foolishly listen.
> 
> Dragon Age and Mass Effect belong to Bioware.

Her last thought was of her crew, and the hope that they would be able to live in the galaxy she left behind; a galaxy free from the Reapers. She hoped that she would find that shore with Thane.

She was aware of the Crucible firing, and pain igniting through her body, then blessed blackness took her.

Something jerked her out of the blackness, and she found herself running from...giant spiders? What this some kind of strange hell, rather than Heaven being a bar, she thought as she ran, seeing the glowing shape of woman urging her on. Pain flared again, this time in her left hand, she felt a blast of cold, and then she slipped once more into blackness.

The clink of chains woke her again. She shook her head, her mouth feeling bone dry as she came too. Shepard's eyes widened at the sight of her hands shackled in ordinary, old fashion shackles. Her eyes scanned the small room, noting the prison bars on the door. The cold of the stone floor crept through her cotton pants. Where the hell was she, and how had she ended up here. 

She opened her left hand, remembering the pain she'd felt there, and saw a glowing green mark in the center of her palm, and spider web-like cracks of green spreading through her hand.

The door flung open and a stern looking woman in plate mail with dark brown hair and a scar along her left cheek glared at Shepard, fury in those dark brown eyes. That look couldn't frighten Shepard, not after everything she'd seen, and some part of her mind found herself thinking this woman was perhaps cut from the same cloth as Shepard herself. Another figure followed the dark-eyed woman, a red-haired woman with an inscrutable expression, dressed in what Shepard could only describe as chainmail.

She was surrounded by soldiers, just waiting to sink their blades into her.

The angry woman's voice snapped through her sense's. "Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now?"

Shepard could only respond with confusion. The Conclave, the Rift, what were they talking about? 

"What happened?" Shepard found herself asking. She wasn't afraid, but she was oh so very lost. This was completely unlike the world she was used to, and unlike any dream she'd ever had. Was she in a coma and dreaming? Was she dead and this was some sort of twisted afterlife?

"It will be easier to show you," the angry woman told her, Cassandra, Shepard put a name to her, based on the red-haired woman's words.

The next several minutes were a blur. Shepard could see the glares of the men and women around them, the blame in their eyes. As her gaze took in the glowing green gash across the sky, the Breach, the wondered if somehow destroying the Reapers had caused it. But was that even possible? This had to be some sort of dream, none of this seemed real. The feeling of the cold against her face, the snow beneath her boots, and the pain in her left hand with each pulse of the Breach told her otherwise though.

As she followed Cassandra, listening to the woman talking about demons and spirits, she tried to mentally adjust herself to this situation. Something stirred in the back of her mind, providing her with information about demons and the Fade that Cassandra spoke of. 

It could have been worse, she thought grimly, to wake up in this world with absolutely no knowledge of this place. Instead she now had two sets of thoughts warring in her mind: her memories of her life was Commander Sidney Shepard, and the world she was in now, the name 'Trevelyan' echoing in her mind. With Cassandra yelling about a demon in their path, though, there was no time to settle her thoughts right now. She would have to figure all of this out when she wasn't in danger, dream or no dream.

An unasked for knowledge welled up in her mind as she saw a quarterstaff lying on the ground behind Cassandra. She snatched the staff up, feeling something within it flare to life under her fingers before she pointed it at the green wraithlike figure (the knowledge of this body informing her that it was indeed a wraith), and something akin to frost shot across the distance, striking the creature. She felt ice forming at her fingertips and staggered back in surprise for a moment at the ice that slipped from her fingers and through the air at the creature.

This body seemed to have knowledge of how to control this power, though Sidney wasn't entirely certain she trusted herself with it, right now she didn't really have a choice. 

It isn't that difference from summoning her biotic powers, she told herself. She mentally compared that to the knowledge this body (oh Maker was she inhabiting someone else's body? Had she somehow driven the correct soul away? That was a sudden, horrifying thought), and summoned additional power to her fingertips, destroying the Wraith as Cassandra cut down the demon.

Shepard eyed Cassandra carefully when the armored woman demanded she drop her weapon, and recognizing the tense situation, slowly put the staff down, trying to defuse the situation.

"No," Cassandra paused, and Sidney could see the weariness in the woman's eyes. How long had this warrior been fighting demons and spirits? How much had she lost in the explosion she mentioned? "Keep it. I cannot protect you, and I should remember that you came willingly."

"Thank you," Sidney murmured, deciding that in this strange world, having an ally in Cassandra was better than making an enemy of her. Sidney hadn't felt fear at facing the demons, it didn't seem any worse than facing husks to her, but this memories of this vessel told her that demons and spirits weren't normal for most people to encounter, so just as husks had frightened most people in her world, demons and spirits frightened people here. Her brain also mentioned something about darkspawn, but that was a memory to explore later.

She and Cassandra faced more wraiths and shades before Sidney heard fighting up ahead, and Cassandra told her she'd have to wait and see who it was.

Seeing a dwarf and elf, according to her new memories, forced home the idea that she really wasn't in Kansas anymore. As she and Cassandra helped them cut down the last of the creatures pouring from the rift, she could only wonder what would come next.

Solas seized her left hand, unasked, and she felt energy flare from the green mark on her palm, and the rift before them flickered, and then closed. She heard herself sigh in relief. So evidently this thing was good for something, despite the throbbing in her palm.

The dwarf and elf were Varric Tethras and Solas respectively. Solas gave her some strange vibes, but Shepard found herself immediately warming to Varric. He reminded her a little of Garrus, if perhaps a bit more socially adept.

"That's a nice...crossbow," she told Varric.

Varric gave her a roguish grin, and she found herself grinning back. There were worse people, she thought, that she could encounter in this odd dream or afterlife.

Cassandra pushed them on, towards the Forward Camp and the other woman, Leliana. Sidney found herself hoping, too, that the woman had made it to the camp.

When they finally made it through the shades, wraiths, and some sort of demon to the Forward Camp, Sidney finally had a moment to catch her breath as Cassandra and Leliana argued with some man in a fancy uniform named Chancellor Roderick. 

Everything Sidney had seen on the way up here reminded her very much of the destruction she'd seen on multiple planets while trying to find a way to destroy the Reapers. This place was a warzone, only instead of Reapers, they were fighting creatures that belonged in the Fade (the realm of dreams, her memories told her).

Both presented a nightmare, though the Breach seemed to be the Reapers on a smaller scale. She was dealing with a single planet, verses an entire galaxy. It was almost a relief.

Then again, she rather doubted, with the lack of technology she saw around her, that they could travel to other planets to begin with. It almost felt like she had been sent backward...or perhaps forward, in time, if her civilization had fallen and magic had somehow grown out of the remains.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts as Roderick blamed her, as Cassandra had earlier, for the hole in the sky.

“Don't talk about me like I'm not here,” she snapped at him, for a moment feeling more like her old self. She was Commander flipping Shepard, and no paper pusher, Cassandra seemed to think he was, was going to send her to her death.

Then Cassandra was asking her what they would do. There was a bigger rift that she'd evidently fallen from that needed to be closed and it was located in the remains of the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

Sidney never was one for sneaking around, she thought as she considered the options.

“A frontal assault,” she replied grimly. She wanted to get this over with.

So they pressed forward. As she stared at the destruction around her, it indeed looked as if something had leveled this place. She felt sick looking at it, but that feeling had never stopped her from pressing forward before. 

The fallen bodies of soldiers they passed reminded her very much of the bodies she'd passed on Earth during that final run to the Crucible. In a different world, they could be the bodies of her friends and colleagues. Varric had already reminded her a bit of Garrus. Who else, she thought, would she find traces of here?

As they reached the ruins of the Temple and she closed yet another rift, she glanced over while Solas was congratulating her on becoming proficient to see Cassandra speaking with a golden haired man in armor. 

He was attractive, she thought clinically, for a human. Cassandra obviously trusted him a great deal. She felt a stab of guilt when he informed her they'd lost a lot of people getting her here.

“I hope they're right too, Commander,” she told him, using the title Cassandra had given him. Cullen, that's the name Cassandra had followed the title with.

“Maker watch over you,” the Commander told Sidney as she followed Cassandra into the center of the ruins.

The twisted and charred remains of people littered the ruins, so much like fallen husks it made an anger burn deep in her gut. Whoever had caused this explosion, she found herself thinking, she was going to find them and gut them.

“This is Red Lyrium, Seeker,” Varric murmured to Cassandra.

“I am aware of that, Varric,” Cassandra replied in a biting tone.

“Yes, but what is it doing here?” Varric asked. There was worry in his tone, something else to investigate later. If she survived this, Sidney was going to have a lot of questions.

“You made it,” Leliana greeted her, a hint of warmth in the other woman's voice. It was probably the nicest greeting anyone had given her since she'd woken up, other than Varric and Solas. Solas looked at her like she was a mystery to be solved, but Varric seemed genuinely glad to see her. 

Maybe she wouldn't be totally without friends.

When she opened the Rift, the thing that came out reminded her of a Brute. 

The sheer amount of effort it took to kill the thing, a Pride Demon, Solas would tell her later, seemed to be disproportionate to it's size, but then they were fighting with bows, crossbows, swords, axes, daggers, and hammers, not high powered energy rifles and pistols.

She'd never missed her side arm so much as she threw fire and ice at the thing.

Finally, it, and the 'friends' it brought with it, were dead, and Sidney was able to seal the Rift.

A cheer went up among the soldiers still alive, and she felt a minor sense of accomplishment.

If this was a dream or afterlife, it was a strange one.

She sighed, a headache forming in her temple and felt exhausted at the amount of effort it had taken to seal such a large Rift.

“It's alright to rest now,” Solas told her quietly as she sagged. 

Then he caught her as she fell unconscious again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sidney wakes up again, and begins to realize that Thedas is most definitely not a dream and there's even more riding on the mark on her hand than she first believed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mass Effect and Dragon Age belong to Bioware

She came awake to a throbbing ache in her left hand, and the sound of someone moving around her room.

She reached for a side arm beside the bed that wasn't there, and found herself rolling to her feet, body automatically taking a defensive stance until she realized there was a frightened elf crouching on the floor and begging her not to hurt them. Sidney cursed, realizing she'd frightened the woman.

At least she got some useful information though. They were safe, for the moment, and the Seeker wanted to see her in the Chantry.

She felt a headache building in her temple and rubbed at it with her thumb, slowly stretching her body in exercises that were familiar to her mind, but not this body.

At least she hadn't woken up again in a Cerberus facility with mechs and AIs shooting at her. She supposed that was an improvement. Though right now some part of her would love to see Miranda, a friend she knew she could trust, who could tell her what the hell was going on.

She felt grubby, and looking around, there was definitely no shower to be had, and, her nostrils flared, a chamber pot. This place was definitely medieval. It also appeared that what she was hoping was some bizarre dream was most definitely a reality. It had to be some twisted sort of afterlife then. It certainly wasn't like any afterlife she'd read about from different religions she'd studied while serving the Alliance. 

She glared at the glowing green mark on her left hand. The throbbing was receding to a dull ache, like an old wound that acted up in cold weather. Well, she'd spent years dealing with old injuries and during her time with the Reds they'd rarely lived in a accommodations with modern amenities. She'd survive, she always did.

At least someone had left clean, or at least cleanish, clothing, and a small bucket of lukewarm water, cake of soap and a rag for her, probably the elf. She'd have to try and apologize again later for scaring the woman. Sidney cleaned herself as best she could and changed her clothing and put on her boots. There was a battered wool coat along with the clothing, something she had a feeling she'd want. 

She eyed the staff leaning against the wall. Her experience yesterday, or maybe a few days ago, told her it was a weapon for more than just smacking people with. With some reluctance, she picked it up and slung across her back with the attached leather strap. There was a leather glove someone had evidently left for her, or the house's prior occupant had left behind. A left glove...no this had been left here deliberately. Saying a silent thanks to whoever had, she slipped it over her left hand, then squared her shoulders and stepped outside of the cabin.

The hushed silence that greeted her was unnerving. There were people gathered all about, but leaving the street clear, all of them staring at her as she passed. Others, dressed in armor and uniforms, stood at attention, apparently saluting her as she passed. She heard whispers, of people saying she'd closed the hole in the sky, that she'd saved them.

It all left her more confused than before, but she didn't show that. Sidney Shepard had been a soldier too long to show that confusion.

She followed the line of soldiers through the town to the building that reminded her of a church...Chantry, her mind told her now. It was disconcerting, having memories of a life she did not actually remember living. She just hoped she really was this person, this Sidney Trevelyan, that her brain was telling her she was. Her mind provided a memory of an entire life, far different from the one she'd lived as Sidney Shepard. They were memories she was going to have to sift through and pay attention to.

She heard arguing in the back of the Chantry and drawing on old advise to project confidence even when you didn't feel it (she'd surely faced worse during the Reaper war), she pushed the door open, and came face to face with Chancellor Roderick, the woman Leliana she'd met the last time she'd been awake (and had defended the need for her to live), and Cassandra.

At least she knew now Cassandra and Leliana didn't blame her for the hole in the sky anymore. The Chancellor did, of course, and she wondered how much of a toady and opportunist the man was. Something told her instinctively she hadn't caused the rip in the sky and the Fade.

"So instead of actually doing something about it, you stand here making accusations," Sidney bit out, glaring at Roderick. "Nevermind it nearly killed me to seal the tear in the sky to begin with.

When Cassandra slammed the thick tomb on the table, Sidney got the feeling she was witnessing something rather historic.

After Roderick was chased out, along with the guards, Sidney found herself faced with the serious, worried, and almost hopeful looks of two women who'd been severely tried over the past many days.

Leliana and Cassandra believed the mark on her hand could fix all of this, but they needed the backing of a team to succeed.

There hasn't been an Inquisition in centuries, her mind told her, but now it might be the best way for them to get people's attention. There was still a war going on between Templars and Mages (mage, she thought, I am a mage, I have a stake in this), and with the Divine dead and the war going on, someone had to take charge of the situation.

"If you're goal is to restore order, then I'll do whatever I can," she told Cassandra and Leliana. It wasn't as if she hadn't spent the past few years trying to restore order to the galaxy, this was just on a smaller scale.

The tight smiles that Cassandra and Leliana gave her were enough. They believed her and she believed them. She hadn't asked for the mark on her hand or to awake up in this strange world, but Sidney She-Trevelyan, wasn't one to just stand by the wayside when chaos reigned.


End file.
